


The Talent Show

by kawada_s



Series: Main Universe [4]
Category: Battle Royale - All Media Types
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-19
Updated: 2017-01-19
Packaged: 2018-09-18 16:16:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9393221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kawada_s/pseuds/kawada_s
Summary: After Sho decides a celebration is in order after finishing exams, the first ever Shiroiwa Junior High Class 3-B Talent Show is held, with Mitsuko, Hirono and Haruka acting as judges. With bad acting, a disastrous magic act, the potential formation of the new hottest boyband, awkward dancing and a... mysterious guest from an alternate universe showing up, it's definitely going to be an interesting night... that is, if anyone actually gets past the auditions. Modern AU/No-Program.





	1. Part I: The Auditions

The Talent Show

Part I: The Auditions

This had entirely been Sho’s idea.

He had said that after finishing the hell that was exams, they needed to celebrate. Most of the class had figured that he meant maybe going out for lunch somewhere, or doing something fun after school or on the weekend, but instead, he had suggested… a talent show.

While many people in Class 3-B had been impartial to the idea, and worriedly asked if they _had_ to do it (the answer was no), there were quite a few people who had clung to the idea, gathered their friends around, and started throwing around act names and ideas. Sho, ecstatic that people had actually listened to his idea for once, began to arrange things, and within two weeks after they had completed their exams, he had gotten all the plans finalised.

Mr. Hayashida had let them use the school’s hall for the show, with the only condition that they had to run the accepted acts through him before the night of the show, just in case. Everything had fallen into place. From the word he’d heard around school they’d have people who would try out, Sho and the other members of the Kiriyama family being one of them. For this reason, he wouldn’t be able to judge or host the show, and he wasn’t too sure who could.

It hit him the day he put up the audition list in the classroom. They’d be… strangely _perfect._

He approached Mitsuko and Hirono that afternoon, Yoshimi having been out with the flu for over a week now, and had pitched the concept of them being the judges to them like this: _would you both like to bully your classmates for two hours after school each day this week and get paid for it?_

Having nothing better to do, they had both said yes, and Sho waited for the audition list to start filling up. However, at the end of the day, no one had signed up at all. When he asked Yukie about this, as he had heard she’d been practicing for about a week now, she had told him that once they’d found out that Mitsuko and Hirono were judging, everyone had been too scared to sign up.

Wanting the show to go on, he had brought Haruka in as a third judge, both because he knew her classmates liked her and that Hirono was crushing on her badly. By the second day, several acts had decided to try their luck, and he couldn’t be more excited. At the three’s request, he had promised to stay out of it until the night of the talent show, and all he could do was hope that he’d left the show in good hands.

Mitsuko, Hirono and Haruka sat at a desk in the school hall, looking out at the stage. Mitsuko looked down at the clipboard in her hands and sighed, wondering who the first idiot to sign up was. She took a sip from the flask she had on the desk, which made Haruka shoot her a look of disgust. Mitsuko just shrugged. If she was to do this, she was going to need a damn drink.

“Utsumi, we’re ready,” Mitsuko called out, and she watched Yukie come onto the stage.

“What are you going to be assaulting our ears with today?” Hirono asked, Haruka sliding down further in her seat. She shot her best friend an awkward smile, hoping that she could step in after she’d performed before the two could find a reason to tear her to pieces.

Yukie stepped up to the microphone, smoothing out her skirt nervously. She announced that she was going to sing a pop song that Hirono had heard on the radio several times recently, and that was enough to make her dread the rest of the auditions already.

It was obvious Yukie had put in many hours of practice since Sho had proposed the idea of a talent show, knowing all the lyrics off by heart and even having some light choreography to go along with it, but she could not carry a tune to save her life. Within seven seconds of her beginning to sing, Mitsuko had grabbed her flask again, Hirono had groaned, and even Haruka had scrunched up her face and hoped it would soon be over.

She finished her song by throwing her hands up in the air and butchering the final note. Hirono placed her hands over her ears briefly, and then made a few notes on the piece of paper in front of her. Mitsuko and Haruka followed, Yukie watching nervously. She had done pretty good, she had thought, but the performance she had planned out in her head had been a lot better…

“So, how did I do?” Yukie asked between deep breaths. Haruka went to open her mouth, wanting to let her down gently, but Mitsuko beat her two it.

“You were fucking terrible. Bad song. Bad singing. Bad dress. Overall, atrocious. I’m firmly saying NO,” Mitsuko proclaimed, and Yukie bit her lip hard in an attempt to stop herself from crying. If Hirono and Haruka said yes, she’d still be able to get in, but she doubted that the spiky-haired girl would have any good words to say.

“Mitsuko basically covered it,” Hirono shrugged, “and yeah, no, if that wasn’t clear already.”

Yukie turned her head to Haruka, wanting her to say something despite the fact that she knew she wouldn’t be performing at the talent show. Haruka went a shade of pink and looked down at the sheet of paper below her. She hated having to say something bad about the girl she loved, but she had to be honest… just not as brutally like Mitsuko.

“Just…” Haruka searched around for the right words, “practice makes perfect.”

Yukie nodded, gave Haruka a sad smile, and promptly left the stage. Mitsuko immediately looked back at the clipboard, taking another swig from the flask.

“Kitano, Kusaka, you’re up!” Mitsuko called out, but Yumiko and Yukiko didn’t appear, rather rattled by Yukie disappearing offstage in tears. “I _said_ , you’re up!”

While they were still terrified, Yumiko and Yukiko ran onstage, knowing that they’d only get more nervous if they kept Mitsuko waiting and she got angrier. The two were wearing matching t-shirts with both their names on them, and skirts with leggings underneath, looking absolutely terrified. The look of terror on their faces just made Mitsuko smile, and she made sure to sound as pissed off as possible when she asked them what they’d be doing today.

“W-w-we’re g-g-going t-to dance,” Yukiko stuttered as Yumiko went to put the CD in the little pink player they’d brought along.

“I can see this being a train wreck,” Mitsuko simply said, and waited for them to begin.

Yumiko and Yukiko’s dance was definitely nowhere as bad as Yukie’s singing. The pop song blaring from the CD player made Hirono’s ears bleed, but the entertainment that she got out of the two tripping over one another and Yumiko falling flat on her face more than made up for it. Haruka just sat on the edge of her seat, knowing that as soon as it was over, they would be absolutely crushed.

They planned to finish off the dance with a rather complicated move, Yumiko doing it perfectly, while Yukiko fell flat on her face for the second time. At that, Hirono actually laughed, Haruka shooting her a glare. Yumiko helped her up off the floor and Yukiko reached up to wipe her bloody nose, their performance now well and truly over.

“That was horrible, just as I expected it,” Mitsuko immediately said, making more notes on her piece of paper. “But, we need to say ‘yes’ to someone and it would be hilarious to see Kitano fall on her face in front of our whole class and their families, so I say you’re in.”

“You were shit. I’m not budging,” Hirono muttered as Yumiko handed Yukiko a tissue for her nose.

Yumiko and Yukiko looked at Haruka, knowing she had the power to decide what happened now.

“I’ll say yes,” Haruka nodded, a small smile on her face. “I’m sure you’ll be just about perfect by the time the talent show comes around.”

Yumiko and Yukiko giggled and hugged each other tightly, beginning to jump up and down in pure happiness.

“Don’t make me regret my decision,” Mitsuko said, rolling her eyes. “Off the stage!”

Yumiko and Yukiko nodded, and quickly ran out of sight. Mitsuko smirked, and got ready to call the next person up. She snatched the clipboard out of Hirono’s hands and read out the next name neatly written on the audition list, Izumi’s. She appeared on the stage promptly, not wanting to test the patience of Mitsuko and Hirono and tried to appear as calm as possible. Inside, she was terrified, but tried to remind herself at Haruka was there, giving her one friendly face on the judging panel.

“So, Izumi, what talent are you going to be presenting to us today?” Haruka asked, jumping in before either Hirono or Mitsuko could say anything to completely destroy her confidence.

“I’m going to be performing a baton twirling routine,” Izumi said with a small smile on her face. Upon Hirono and Mitsuko starting to quietly laugh, it faded. Haruka sighed, gave Izumi a small smile and mouthed the words ‘good luck’ at her.

“Don’t drop it, like you did at the relays,” Mitsuko smirked. Hirono looked at her and rolled her eyes. One of the things she hated most in the world was a badly-crafted insult.

“Different type of baton altogether, dimwit,” Hirono snapped. Mitsuko responded by hitting her in the shoulder  with the clipboard, but she didn’t bother to retaliate, as Izumi had started her routine and she wanted to see how awful it would be.

It was obvious that Izumi had been practicing baton twirling from an early age, as she was incredibly skilled, each move perfectly calculated, a confident look on her face. Mitsuko and Hirono kept waiting for something to go wrong, such as her dropping the baton or hitting herself in the face in it, but she ended up being the first person whose audition went off without a hitch.

While she tried to deny it, Mitsuko was kind of impressed. Baton twirling didn’t exactly look easy, and she was actually good. They might actually have at least _one_ act now in the talent show that possessed actual talent.

“H-how was it?” Izumi asked nervously, stepping closer to the edge of the stage after several minutes of silence had passed. She gripped her baton tightly, and waited.

“Well, you didn’t fuck up and that looked hard, so I guess I can say yes,” Mitsuko huffed, and Izumi’s eyes lit up. Her eyes flickered over to Hirono, who now looked like she was in actual, physical pain.

“Fine. I’ll say yes, but don’t tell anyone I did,” Hirono said through gritted teeth. The look of surprise followed by a smile from Haruka made her feel both embarrassed and relieved at the same time.

“It’s a resounding yes,” Haruka gave Izumi a bright smile. With a loud squeal of delight, Izumi skipped offstage.

“So, who’s next?” Hirono said, looking forward to trashing whoever came next to make up for being nice to Izumi. Mitsuko looked down at the list, calling out the next act.

Several minutes later, Chisato and Yuka appeared onstage, wheeling in a table with them. They positioned the table under the spotlights and pushed the microphone stands out of the way, mumbling something between one another as they did it. Eventually, as Hirono let out a loud yawn to make it extremely clear she was bored, they decided they were ready to face the judges.

“Finally,” Hirono muttered. “So what dumb shit will you two be bestowing upon us this afternoon?”

“We’re going to be showing you guys interesting ways to decorate cakes, in the style of a cooking show,” Chisato proclaimed, giving the three judges a smile. Haruka returned it, and was about to say something encouraging, but Hirono beat her to it.

“In other words, you both have no actual talents, but you still wanted to audition for some reason,” Hirono snapped at them, amusement spreading across her face when the two girls stayed quiet. Haruka’s eyes widened in horror at her comment, and left her at a complete loss for words.

Before they could be snapped at to get on with their act, Yuka and Chisato began. At first, it seemed to be going rather well, but then when Yuka went to hold up the first finished cake, she dropped it on the ground instead. Chisato had tried to smile and keep going… but then the entire table collapsed, sending all their ingredients and equipment crashing onto the floor, the sound echoing around the hall.

“A-a-are you both okay?!” Haruka immediately asked, watching as Chisato picked up the remains of a cake off the ground. She tried to ignore the laughter coming from either side of her, and wondered if she should go down to help.

“We’re fine, we’re fine,” Chisato mumbled, it obvious she was trying not to cry. “We’ll be gone in a minute, just let us clean this up...”

The three judges watched as Yuka and Chisato attempted to clean up the mess, both of them completely quiet, when Mitsuko broke the stifling silence, surprising all of them.

“You know, if you both rebrand that as a comedy act, where everything goes completely wrong on purpose, I’ll say yes,” Mitsuko nodded at them. “The crowd would love it.” For one of the first times in her life, Haruka found herself actually _liking_ her.

“Souma has a point,” Yuka turned to Chisato with a bright smile on her face. “We can do comedy no problem! I can get a new script ready by the night of the talent show.”

“I’d be up for that. It’s a genius idea,” Haruka smiled, rather surprised by Mitsuko’s suggestion. Chisato bit her lip, still slightly disappointed about their act becoming a total disaster, but nodded. It was better than just walking out a failure, and the audience would probably enjoy a good laugh. They might have a better chance at winning this way.

“Anything to add, Hirono?” Mitsuko asked before they could leave the stage.

“I don’t give a fuck if you’ve gotten through, I’m still saying no. You were shit,” Hirono simply said, then let them disappear offstage. That was all for the second, though technically first day of auditions. Hopefully, the next day, she’d get the chance to utterly trash someone. It was no fun when three acts in a row managed to get through…

Mitsuko, Hirono and Haruka didn’t expect much of turnout the next day, no doubt knowing that Mitsuko and Hirono’s treatment of the four acts that had gotten the courage to audition spreading through the school through wildfire, but things were much better than any of them had expected. _Six_ people had signed up!

The first person to sign up to audition today was Keita Iijima He was terrified, especially due to several stories he’d heard from yesterday’s auditions, but two people had managed to get through, so he figured that he may have a chance. After double-checking that he had all his props, he dragged a table onstage with him and greeted the judges, noticing that Mitsuko and Hirono already looked impatient. Haruka shot him a small smile, as if to say, ‘I’m sorry about whatever these two have to say in these coming minutes.’

“I-I’m Keita Iiji- oh wait, you guys know that already… I… I’m going to be performing a magic act today,” Keita smiled nervously, his smile disappearing as soon as Hirono and Mitsuko rolled their eyes.

“Give me some of that,” Hirono muttered to Mitsuko as Keita began his act. She attempted to snatch Mitsuko’s flask, which she had decided she was going to need during the whole week, but she pushed her away.

“Bring your own, bitch,” Mitsuko growled, taking a sip from the flask. Hirono kicked her in the shin under the table. Haruka kept her eyes on Keita’s act. So far, it had been less of a disaster than Hirono and Mitsuko’s interaction.

Keita started with a simple magic trick involving some coins, which had gone off without a hitch. Haruka had applauded him, wanting to give him a confidence boost, while Mitsuko and Hirono just groaned, mumbling something about magic being an absolutely pathetic act. Haruka was tempted to ask them if they could do better, but decided to keep her mouth shut.

“So, for my second and final trick, I will be pulling a rabbit out of a hat,” Keita announced, picking up a medium-sized red and black top hat off the table.

“Wow, I didn’t know we were suddenly back in fifth grade again,” Mitsuko said under her breath. Hirono snickered.

“The hat is completely empty, there’s nothing up my sleeves, nothing hidden absolutely anywhere,” Keita said while demonstrating this to the audience. He eventually placed the hat back onto the table, and waved his hands around over it. “But now, presto! The rabbit has mysteriously appeared- oh… oh.. oh no… where’s the bunny? WHERE’S THE BUNNY?!”

“You tell us,” Mitsuko said, taking another swig from the flask. Keita began to hysterically search the entire table, then the stage for the missing rabbit.

“Kaori’s gonna kill me!” Keita whined. “C’mon, Junya… this isn’t funny. Come out Junya, come out… I have some carrots for you backstage…”

“She named her rabbit _Junya?”_ Haruka said in some sort of disbelief, Keita still pitifully searching around for the lost pet.

“It’s Minami, what else would you expect?” Hirono simply said in response.

“Anyway,” Mitsuko began after Keita had searched for the rabbit without success for another five minutes, “it’s obvious that your dumb rabbit is not going to be coming back anytime soon, and because of this, your act is a failure. NEXT.”

Keita sheepishly gathered up his belongings and left the stage. Haruka called out to him that if there was any sign of the rabbit, they’d let him know, but she knew she was just grasping at straws.

When no one appeared immediately after Keita departed, Mitsuko yelled out ‘next’ again. Carrying a black CD player, Tatsumichi Oki shuffled onstage. He almost tripped over his untied laces twice, but managed to make it to the middle of the stage unscathed. He took the microphone off the stand and let out a loud cheer, the three judges wincing at the screech that echoed around the hall.

“Just get on with it,” Mitsuko snapped at him.

“O-okay, well, you guys all know who I am. I’m still finalising my act, so to give you guys a taste of what’s to come, I’ll be freestyling for you guys today,” Tatsumichi grinned at them. The three all nodded, now slightly afraid of how disastrous this could be.

Tatsumichi pressed ‘play’ on the CD player he’d brought along and a beat he’d found a few days ago somewhere came booming out of the speakers. While he waited for the words to start flowing, he bounced around the stage and then broke into a yell, which only rarely ended up sounding like actual rapping. For three minutes, he rapped about everything from handball, his mother’s cooking, video games, and strangely enough, machetes.

When it was over, all three of the judges were completely speechless. Tatsumichi hoped that it was a good thing. After five minutes of silence, he began to worry.

“So, how did I do?”

“No. Just no.”

As Tatsumichi left the stage, Haruka tried to think of something she could say to soften the blow, but she could think of absolutely nothing.

Mitsuko called out for the next act to come onstage, and promptly, Sakura Ogawa and Kazuhiko Yamamoto entered the stage, holding hands. They were both dressed rather formally for the occasion, looking more like guests at a wedding than auditioning for a talent show, but no one decided to comment on this. Before Mitsuko or Hirono could rudely ask them what they were doing, Sakura walked up to the front of the stage and grabbed the microphone.

“Hello,” Sakura greeted the three judges with a warm smile. “Kazuhiko and I will be performing an excerpt from a play I am currently writing, called _A Tragic Love Story To Rival All Others.”_

“That seems kind of generic,” Mitsuko commented.

“I’d like to see you do better!” Sakura suddenly snapped, Kazuhiko gently putting a hand on her shoulder, hoping she wouldn’t get any angrier. To their surprise, Hirono just laughed, told Mitsuko that Sakura was probably right, and then told them to begin.

Sakura seemed confident, remembering her lines perfectly, but it was obvious from the start that Kazuhiko had absolutely no idea what he was doing. Every ten seconds or so he’d be looking down at the script he’d hidden rather indiscreetly in the sleeve of his suit jacket and even then, he’d still stumble over his lines. He’d only done this for Sakura, as he didn’t want to let her down and she was sure they could win.

Mitsuko couldn’t help himself. After Kazuhiko had accidentally cursed after forgetting a line and Sakura had gasped and said that wasn’t sticking to the script at all, she began to chuckle. When he tripped over Sakura’s dress and accidentally made her fall over, Hirono joined in. Even though she tried to control herself, not wanting to give in, Haruka began to laugh as soon as Kazuhiko attempted to sob hysterically for the scene’s ending.

By the time Sakura and Kazuhiko had finished, ready to face the judges, the three were near tears. Mitsuko and Hirono were in tears, telling each other to stop laughing, while Haruka tried to discreetly wipe her eyes and compose herself.

“So, how did we do?” Sakura sighed, gripping Kazuhiko’s hand tightly. Mitsuko, surprisingly, was the most composed out of the three, and managed to give them an answer, but just barely.

“Y-you’re in… I… I don’t think either of them are in a position to say anything…” Mitsuko stopped to laugh louder, “and I’m laughing too much to be mean…”

She then broke into hysterical laughter again, leaning on Hirono. Sakura and Kazuhiko left the stage, grateful they’d gotten through, but Sakura was disappointed with the reception of her act. Kazuhiko just nervously smiled and kissed her on the cheek, glad that they had at least gotten through.

It took about fifteen minutes for all three of them to regain composure, and finally, Mitsuko called out for the next act to come onstage. Yoshitoki Kuninobu got up from his seat, wiping his sweaty palms on his pants, and then grabbed the CD player he’d brought along. Shuya Nanahara gave him a wave and wished him luck, and then he was off.

“Hey, guys,” Yoshitoki called out to the three, giving them a wave. He put down his CD player and got everything ready, heart racing. All his nerves had actually disappeared once he got onstage, and he felt more confident than ever. He could do this.

“So, what are you going to assault our eyes and/or ears with today, Kuninobu?” Mitsuko asked, tapping her pen lightly on her clipboard. Upon seeing her cold eyes and look of annoyance, he began to get a little nervous, but tried to push these feelings away.

_Everyone else who has come onto this stage and auditioned has left alive, so you will too… right?_ He cleared his throat loudly and shoved his hands in his pockets, standing up straight and trying to appear as intimidating as possible. It didn’t exactly work, as Mitsuko and Hirono rolled their eyes, making him feel even more nervous. Hurriedly, he grabbed the microphone and, wanting to get it over with, yelled into it.

“I.. I… I’M GOING TO BREAKDANCE!”

Haruka winced at the sound of his screeching, it echoing around the hall, while Mitsuko and Hirono waited for it all to be over. Yoshitoki stood there, frozen in place for several minutes, hands raised in the air, breathing heavily into the microphone. He only went to move when Mitsuko tapped her hands loudly on the table, getting impatient.

“Come on! We have two more acts to see and I wanted to go home an hour ago,” Mitsuko snapped. As Yoshitoki scrambled to start his performance, she took a long swig from her flask. Sho was paying her nowhere near enough for this.

Yoshitoki pressed play on his CD player and ran to the middle of the stage to begin his performance. He began to jump and flail around in what looked like more of a parody of breakdancing than anything. Shuya watched him behind the curtains offstage, his cheeks heating up in embarrassment for his best friend. He willed himself to let out a cheer for him, wanting to try and be the nice, encouraging friend… even though Yoshitoki couldn’t be humiliating himself more if he tried.

As he continued in his attempt to breakdance, Haruka and Mitsuko watched in absolute horror, Haruka placing her hands over her eyes and Mitsuko continuously sipping from her flask. Hirono, on the other hand, was somewhat… enjoying the performance, though she kept her face blank. It was horrible, but it was so bad that it was almost good. He _had_ to get in.

Yoshitoki shot a glance at the judges as he prepared to finish up his performance. When he noticed that they all seemed to look unimpressed with his act, he began to panic. He decided to finish off with the first thing that came to mind, wanting to get it over with. He jumped up in the air and let out a yell, falling flat on his face.

He didn’t get up after that. Upon hearing the loud thump of him hitting the ground and seeing it occur, Noriko Nakagawa ran onto the stage, eyes wide.

“Mr. Nobu! Are you okay?” Noriko asked, shaking him gently. The judges didn’t seem to be paying any attention to the boy laying motionless on the ground, and were instead talking amongst themselves about his act.

“Let him through,” Hirono insisted, seeing some sort of promise in the act despite the way that it had ended.

“No way!” Mitsuko slammed her flask down on the table. “First of all, he was terrible, and second, I think he might be dead.”

“Don’t be stupid! If you don’t let him through, I may as well go and report a fucking robbery,” Hirono declared before turning to Haruka. “What did you think, Tanizawa?”

“I… um… think that someone should give Noriko some help,” Haruka motioned to the stage, where Noriko was trying and failing to pick up Yoshitoki. Unlike Mitsuko had thought, he wasn’t dead, evident by the groans of pain he’d make when Noriko accidentally dropped him.

Mitsuko frowned at the sight of Noriko struggling and looked down at the clipboard again, not wanting to watch the pitiful display any longer.

“NANAHARA! Get out here and help Nakagawa get your friend OFF THE STAGE before she kills him!”

Shuya rushed onto the stage, almost bringing his guitar with him, and helped Noriko carry Yoshitoki, heading for the nurse’s office.

“W-w-we’ll be back soon! I-I’m sorry about this,” Noriko stammered before disappearing from the hall with Shuya.

“Fine,” Mitsuko said, eyes back on her clipboard. “In the meantime, NEXT!”

Kyoichi Motobuchi shuffled onstage, rolling his eyes at what had just happened. _He_ would be able to show the judges – no, not just the judges, their _whole class_ – no, not just their whole class – the _whole school_ what real talent was! No one else would be able to compare to the act that he’d prepared.

“What are you going to be enlightening us with today, nerd?” Hirono asked him. Immediately upon hearing the name, Kyoichi shot her a cold gaze.

“I’m going to read you my latest work of excellence,” Kyoichi proclaimed, smoothing down his suot jacket and making sure his tie was still in place.

“Great,” Mitsuko said flatly, letting out an obnoxious yawn.

Kyoichi chose to ignore her and instead moved to the centre of the stage, pulling the microphone stand closer. He cleared his throat into the microphone and took a deep breath, preparing himself to begin.

“Good afternoon. I am Kyoichi Motobuchi, and today I will be presenting a speech about the importance of conserving the environment.”

As soon as Kyoichi began to read, Mitsuko groaned – how the hell could this be counted as a talent? Within several minutes of him speaking, the three judges began to yawn, it bringing back too many of times past of having to listen to countless class speeches. He seemed to go on forever.

When Kyoichi looked up to make eye contact with the judges, his face filled with anger. Mitsuko and Haruka’s heads each rested on one of Hirono’s shoulders, the three of them fast asleep. In utter fury, Kyoichi stopped his speech mid-word, ripped the microphone off the stand, throwing it on the ground. The three were now wide awake.

“How are you all so RUDE?!” Kyoichi demanded. “It’s obvious none of you care about _real issues_ going on in this world! I’M DONE!”

Kyoichi stormed off the stage, and Haruka swore she could hear him crying once he was behind the curtains.

“Sorry, Motobuchi,” Haruka eventually attempted to call out, but her voice became softer, “it was just… really boring.”

After Kyoichi’s dramatic exit, Shuya and Noriko came back in, relieved to see that they had managed to make it back in time to still audition. As Shuya went backstage to grab his guitar and get everything read, Noriko updated the judges on Yoshitoki’s condition.

“He has a broken leg, and won’t be able to breakdance for about two months. He also has a concussion, and a broken nose,” Noriko said sadly, walking to the stage.

“Do you think we care?” Mitsuko asked her, Noriko looking down in embarrassment. “Anyway, go on. The quicker you two fail, the quicker I can go home. What are you going to be doing today?”

“We’re going to be performing a song that we wrote together awhile ago,” Shuya said as he came onstage, taking a seat at a stool beside Noriko. She nodded, grabbing the microphone, only for her to accidentally knock over the microphone stand, pink filling her cheeks. Hirono immediately laughed, Haruka shooting her a glare, and most surprisingly, Mitsuko kicked her under the table and muttered at her to shut up.

The rest of their performance almost went perfectly. They were both quite good, though it was obvious that they had made a few mistakes here and there, they weren’t major, and overall, the two actually did have talent. When they finished their audition, Shuya looked nervously at the judges, wondering what to expect. What he’d heard backstage this afternoon hadn’t exactly given him much confidence, but I tried to think positive.

“You were great!” Haruka immediately said, managing to step in before Hirono and Mitsuko did. “I’m definitely saying yes.”

“Your lyrics suck and Nakagawa can’t sing, so I’m saying no,” Hirono said, smirking when Noriko’s face fell slightly, despite her attempts to hide it. Hirono shot a glance at Mitsuko, waiting to hear her absolutely trash them. They were just the type of act that she was almost completely sure she would tear apart.

“Yeah, whatever. I’ll let you guys in,” Mitsuko simply said with a shrug of her shoulders. Hirono looked at her, eyes wide, waiting for the insults that never ended up coming. _She must just really want to get out of here. Otherwise, it’s just too fucking weird._

“Thank you,” Noriko shot the three judges a bright smile, and then disappeared offstage with Shuya. The three judges promptly went home afterwards, wondering what the next day would bring.

 

Only two people had auditioned the next day. Hirono chalked it up to nerves – Haruka had a volleyball game today, so she wasn’t able to come to auditions, and had instead managed to get Takako to take her place. While she wasn’t as nasty as Hirono and Mitsuko were, quite a few people were afraid of her, due to her cold gaze and often desiring to be alone. At least the afternoon would pass quicker than the previous one did.

“So, what idiots signed up for the show today?” Takako asked, dropping her bag on the floor beside her. She attempted to grab the clipboard off the other girl, but she was too quick and hugged it to her chest instead, shooting her a glare which Takako immediately returned.

“The clipboard is _my_ thing,” Mitsuko snapped. Hirono couldn’t help but snort with laughter over her childishness. “Anyway, if you’re patient, you’ll find out soon. First up: Oda.”

When Toshinori did not appear on the stage within five minutes, Hirono banged her hand on her desk and yelled out, not wanting her preparations for this event to be for nothing. She had managed to get a look at the clipboard awhile ago, not that she thought Mitsuko would care if she saw. She knew why she was hiding it from Takako – both to ignore her, and so she would have no idea about the supposed ‘comedy gold mine’ that would be coming up soon.

“FROG BOY! GET THE FUCK OUT HERE!”

Toshinori stormed onstage with his violin, muttering the word ‘vulgar’ under his breath too many times for any of them to count while he prepared to begin his act. He went to grab a stool to sit on, but when he heard Hirono make a snide comment about his height, he kicked it away (trying not to cry out in pain afterwards), and decided he would stand instead.

“I am Toshinori Oda,” he began, not waiting for any of the judges to ask, “and I will be playing a beautiful piece on the violin for you today. You should consider yourselves lucky. The only reason I am performing in front of you vulgar people today is because upon finding out about what you think counts as talent, I need to show you what _real,_ non-vulgar talent is like.”

“Knock yourself out,” Mitsuko said with an eye roll. Toshinori chose to ignore her, and began to play.

Within seconds of his performance starting, Hirono had already tuned out. Instead, she had bent down to grab her bag, and was quietly digging through it, both Takako and Mitsuko curious to figure out what she was doing. After several minutes, she produced a medium-sized paper bag, placing it on the desk beside Mitsuko’s ever present flask.

“Finally bought your own drink, I see?” Mitsuko said, not caring enough to whisper.

“Nope. I have something better,” Hirono said smugly. Very curious now, Mitsuko looked over at her.

Hirono noisily dug around in the bag, producing a red, fat, overripe tomato. Without hesitation, she threw it at Toshinori, it hitting him square in the face. Screaming, he dropped his violin, as she passed the bag to Mitsuko and then Takako, who then pelted him with a tomato each.

“You all are so VULGAR!” Toshinori yelled, picking up his now broken violin. “I will be sending you my dry cleaning bill promptly… I may even be getting a lawyer!”

“Yeah, right,” Hirono threw the last tomato at him as he stalked offstage. “Have fun, Frog Boy!”

The three judges couldn’t help but share a smile as Toshinori let out an almost inhuman screech backstage. Upon seeing their unity, both Takako and Mitsuko looked away from each other, smiles lost. Mitsuko immediately went to call out the next name, but Hirono poked her in the shoulder.

“There’s already someone onstage, dumbass,” Hirono muttered.

Mitsuko looked over at the stage to see a strange boy there, dressed in all black, walking along the stage as if he were out on a stroll in a park. He stopped suddenly, looking rather confused, and began to scan his surroundings, almost as if he were looking for a threat. None of them had seen him before – they were sure of that. His wild orange hair was something they would definitely remember.

“Excuse me?” Mitsuko frowned when he remained silent. “Do you even go to this school?”

The boy remained silent. He didn’t shrug or shake his head, he just stood there, making direct eye contact with her, making her incredibly uncomfortable.

“Stop that, you fucking creep!” Mitsuko snapped at him. “So, you’re some loser off the street?”

Again, the boy was completely silent, and Mitsuko was beginning to completely lose her patience. Noticing this, Hirono surprisingly stepped up before she could yell at him.

“Um… so… you look at little lost,” she began, unfamiliar with the concept of being kind to people, “so should we call a cab for you or something? Any friends that could pick you up? Family? You have an address you can give us?”

The boy shook his head this time, then raced off the stage.

“Weird,” Mitsuko frowned before deciding that he was probably someone that would never have any sort of impact on her life. She picked up the clipboard again, a devious smile appearing on her face. “Anyway, NEXT!”

Suddenly, lights came on onstage, and a banner covered in hearts came down as some sort of backdrop. Among the hearts, strangely enough, was Takako’s name, in gold. The lights switched to the alternating colours of red and pink, and as the person auditioning came onstage, the bad feeling in Takako’s stomach got even worse once she realised who it was.

_That bastard._

“Hey, guys!” Kazushi called out to the three as he grabbed the microphone. “I wasn’t planning to audition, but then I found out Chigusa was going to be judging today, and I had to! I’ve had this prepared since halfway through the seventh grade, and I finally get to do it! This took a lot of hard work, the banner took two weeks, getting Yoji to figure out how to do the lights took a month, and I’ve been practising this song for quite awhile too! I LOVE YOU, TAKAKO!”

Takako turned to Mitsuko. 

“Please,” Takako muttered, “shoot me now.”

“If only I had the chance,” Mitsuko said back, before facing the stage. It was only then that they all realised Kazushi was wearing a red suit and a matching fedora. Somehow, with this new information, the audition got even worse…. and it hadn’t even properly begun yet.

Kazushi grabbed the microphone and began to walk around the stage, singing horribly off-key, in a screechy voice that made them all wish they were anywhere else. The only redeeming part was when he tripped over once, almost landing flat on his face. Just when they thought it couldn’t get any worse, Kazushi got ready for the chorus.

“Yoji,” Kazushi called out, stopping singing for a moment. “Get the effects ready. YOJI! STOP TALKING TO YOUR GIRLFRIEND ON THE PHONE AND GET THE EFFECTS READY!”

“Uh, sorry,” Yoji mumbled from backstage.

Kazushi took several deep breaths, then began to sing again, attempting to belt out the chorus with every bit of energy he had.

He kicked a stool over and screamed, accidentally breaking the school’s piano. Confetti shaped like hearts erupted from the stage, landing all over the judges. Takako had never been angrier in her life – at least it wasn’t in front of the whole school, but it happening in front of Mitsuko and Hirono more than made up for that fact.

“This needs to end…” Mitsuko groaned, grabbing her flask. Takako nodded, rose from her chair, and went to the stage.

As soon as Takako kicked him in the groin for the first time, Mitsuko began to record the beautiful event on her phone. This was the best entertainment she’d seen all week.

 

It was the final day of auditions, and now that Haruka was back as a judge, four people had signed up to try and make it to the talent show. Overall, the judges were feeling quite positive, well, as positive as they could make themselves be. Nothing could be worse than Kazushi’s audition. Haruka had been informed of it by Hirono and she had shown her Mitsuko’s video. She was both happy and sad that she missed it, as while she was usually opposed to violence, pretty much everyone in their class liked to watch Kazushi get beaten up.

The first act of the day was Shinji and Yutaka. The two walked onto the stage confidently, telling themselves that the judges, namely Mitsuko and Hirono, wouldn’t be able to get to them. As Yutaka walked up to the microphone, Shinji briefly disappeared to drag a drum kit onstage. Haruka shot Yutaka a small smile, hoping that neither Mitsuko or Hirono would do anything to shatter the confidence he’d manage to build up.

“H-hey,” Yutaka began, Haruka relieved he managed to speak before Hirono or Mitsuko could get a word in. “I’m going to be reciting some jokes today, with Shinji on drums.”

From behind the drums, Shinji gave the judges a wave.

“Go on,” Mitsuko muttered, already grabbing her flask. “Hopefully this disaster of an act passes quickly.”

Yutaka took a deep breath and tries to ignore her, instead turning to Shinji, giving him the signal he was about to start, and then turning back to the microphone as he began to read his first joke. After he told each joke, Shinji accompanied them with a ‘ba dum tss,’ the hall for the most part completely silent. They were awful jokes, but were so bad they were good. Haruka chuckled at a few of them, but Mitsuko and Hirono were completely straight-faced. Mitsuko was glued to her flask after the first three jokes.

Towards the end, when the hall had been silent for quite awhile, Yutaka began to get nervous. His cards containing his jokes in case he got stuck slipped from the sleeve of his jacket and off the stage altogether, his mind going completely blank. He refused to stop the audition, though. He had one more joke left in him before he’d finish his act.

One came to mind, a pun, but it was so terrible he didn’t want to use it. It was all he had though, and he didn’t want Mitsuko and Hirono to get impatient, so he bit the bullet and recited it.

He definitely did not expect Mitsuko to spit the contents of her flask all over Hirono as she burst out in laughter, tears rolling down her cheeks. Everytime she tried to stop laughing, she just laughed even more, beginning to shake. Shinji was so shocked at this he forgot the ‘ba dum tss,’ and instead, along with Yutaka, stared at her as if she had suddenly gone nuts.

Haruka gently dabbed at Hirono with a napkin, who was now red with both anger and embarrassment. She looked over to see Mitsuko getting up, staggering up the stairs, falling flat on her face once, insisting she needed some air.

“Judging by that reaction… you’re in,” Haruka said, still rather surprised. Shinji and Yutaka smiled at one another as they left the stage together, still unable to believe what had just happened.

Not in a rush for Mitsuko to return, Hirono watched as the next act came onto the stage, deciding not to wait for her. After their failed auditions a few days ago, Tatsumichi and Yoshitoki had returned together to the stage, Tatsumichi carrying his CD player, a piece of paper in his hand, and Yoshitoki on crutches.

“So… um… hi again,” Tatsumichi mumbled into the microphone. “We thought we’d try to audition again, this time, as a duo. Kuninobu’s gonna breakdance to my rap.”

Tatsumichi went to press play on his CD player, but Haruka cut in, worried.

“Wait wait wait… how is Kuninobu meant to breakdance with a broken leg?” Haruka asked with a frown, thinking of Yoshitoki’s injury during his first audition. She didn’t want him to get hurt worse.

“I dunno,” Tatsumichi shrugged. “He just came up to me and said it sounded like a good idea.”

“No,” Hirono shook her head. “Kuninobu was robbed, but he can’t breakdance with a broken leg. NEXT.”

Tatsumichi and Yoshitoki groaned, but left the stage, sad they didn’t get to share their genius with the world. Their day would come eventually… but probably not for quite awhile.

Mitsuko, now calm, arrived back in the hall as Yoshitoki and Tatsumichi disappeared out of sight, acting as if her uncontrollable fit of laughter had never happened. Hirono and Haruka were more than willing to forget about it, though they doubted it would come easily. It had been one of the scariest things either of them had ever seen in their lives.

“So, who’s up?” Haruka asked as Mitsuko slid back into her chair, trying to get rid of the image of Mitsuko just about dying of laughter out of her head.

“Oh god,” Mitsuko groaned upon reading the clipboard. “Minami. MINAMI, GET THE FUCK OUT HERE!”

Kaori, absolutely terrified of Mitsuko, ran onstage and grabbed the microphone, already looking like she was about to cry. Haruka swore she saw her whisper into her necklace for good luck, but told herself she had to be imagining it.

“I am going to be reciting a poem I wrote today,” Kaori removed her glass briefly to wipe her tears, “about my beloved Junya.”

“Great,” Hirono snorted. “We’re so lucky.”

Kaori began to tearfully recite her poem, becoming a weeping mess before she’d even finished half the lines. She finished her poem by collapsing in a heap on the ground, sobbing hard over her beloved. Mitsuko and Hirono both rolled their eyes, yelled a ‘no’ at her, and Haruka gave her a sad smile, secretly hoping she would seek help.

“Well, that’s everyone,” Mitsuko said abruptly after Kaori exited the stage. “I guess we’ll go tell Hayashida about the acts and start finalising the show.”

“Funny,” Haruka frowned. “I thought I saw another act on the clipboard. Maybe my eyes were just playing tricks on me.”

The three went to leave, walking up the stairs, when a voice emerged from the stage.

“No, Tanizawa, your eyes weren’t playing tricks on you,” the voice of Sho echoed around the hall. “We’re the last act on the list. Saving the best till last.”

The curtains were drawn, the stage completely dark. Haruka took a seat back at the table, while Hirono and Mitsuko stood on the stairs facing the stage, arms folded. She’d tried to forget that Kazuo’s stupid gang had signed up for the show. She was determined they wouldn’t get through. What _talent_ could they possibly have?

Before Mitsuko could ask them what they were doing, a song erupted from the speakers around the hall. It was a song she’d unfortunately heard once before… by a dumb boyband.

Suddenly, the curtains opened, the stage still dark. A spotlight came on, revealing Mitsuru, who began to sing the first words. Another spotlight then came on, revealing Sho as he joined in. As they got to the backing vocals, two spotlights came on, revealing Hiroshi and Ryuhei as they yelled the lyrics.

Lights shone around the stage as they began to dance a rather well choreographed routine. The final spotlight came on, revealing Kazuo in the middle, dancing a perfect boyband routine with his gang, his face blank the whole time. The performance included a smoke machine, several light shows, surprisingly good singing, and top notch choreography.

Mitsuko was in shock.

Haruka began to tap her foot as they neared the end of the song.

Hirono couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

“We were perfect right?” Sho smirked after they’d finished their song. “This was supposed to be a dress rehearsal, but Hiroshi forgot to give me his measurements for the suit.”

“I tried, and you told me to go away!” Hiroshi snapped. Ryuhei elbowed him in the side.

“Fucking Hiroshi, wrecking everything,” Ryuhei chuckled. As Hiroshi and Ryuhei began to beat each other up, Kazuo stepped forward.

“Are we being accepted into the show?” Kazuo asked. “Souma, you look like you are in need of some serious help.” Mitsuko shot him a death glare, confusing him. Weren’t people supposed to be truthful?

“NO. NO. NO,” Mitsuko insisted. “I will never say yes to your pathetic piece of garbage that you call an act. Terrible from beginning to end.”

“I’m saying yes!” Haruka smiled. “That was just…. _wow._ That must have taken ages to put together.”

“I planned out the light show and choreography in fifteen minutes,” Kazuo simply said.

“Fine… I’ll say yes,” Hirono said, just because it would annoy Mitsuko.

The Kiriyama family disappeared offstage, Ryuhei and Hiroshi letting out a cheer. They had made it into the talent show, and they were going to win for sure. Mitsuko glared at the other two judges and walked out of the hall, refusing to believe that the Kiriyama family’s performance had actually happened.


	2. Part II: The Actual Talent Show

Part II: The Actual Talent Show 

The night of the talent show looked like it was going to be a pretty good event after all. Mr. Hayashida had previewed all the acts and approved them, the groups had been rehearsing all week, and the three judges had put a script together to follow for the night. It had been decided that it would probably be the safest for Haruka to do the majority of the talking.

It was five minutes to show time. Yumiko and Yukiko were doing last minute revisions of dance steps, Sakura was running Kazuhiko through his lines, Shuya was tuning his guitar, and Sho was doing a few small alterations to the Kiriyama family’s costumes. Mr. Hayashida fiddled with his tie and walked out of the room backstage where the students were gathered, and peeked out to see the audience.

They had a much bigger turnout than expected. Everyone from their class had showed up to watch the show save for Toshinori, but that was to be expected, and a lot of them had bought their families or friends from other schools or classes. He nervously walked back into the room where all the students were practicing, hoping desperately that it would go off without a hitch.

His eyes widened when he saw Mitsuko sitting in a chair, drinking from a flask.

“S-Souma?! What are you doing?!” Mr. Hayashida rushed over, his fear over the show being a failure and costing him his job outweighing his fear of Mitsuko. “Put that down!”

“I need a drink,” Mitsuko rolled her eyes, taking one more sip before holding it out to the teacher. “I think you need one. It’s just a junior high talent show.”

Mr. Hayashida sighed, shook his head, and quickly ran out to pour the contents of the flask down the sink, hoping no one would find out she was drinking. He came back briefly to wish them all good luck, then took his seat in the front row. Haruka, Hirono and Mitsuko walked onto the stage together, applause greeting them. Haruka shot a smile at her friends sitting in the audience, and took the microphone.

“Welcome to the first ever Shiroiwa Junior High Class 3-B Talent Show! I’m Haruka Tanizawa, and me and my classmates Mitsuko Souma and Hirono Shimizu will be hosting and judging the show for you today! I hope you enjoy the acts that you see tonight, they’ve been practicing for weeks now to get this far, and I hope you think they’re as talented a we do! The winner of the talent show gets a cash prize, which will be determined after the end of the show,” Haruka said to the audience. “First up… Izumi Kanai, who will be performing a baton twirling routine for us today.”

The three judges took their seats as the crowd clapped and Izumi walked onto the stage. She had added some music to go with her routine, and seemed much more confident than she did on audition day. Giving her friends in the audience a bright smile, she began her routine, it going near perfectly.

When Izumi was done, the crowd applauded her, a few people cheering, making her blush. Gripping her baton tightly, she looked over at the judges, hoping that she would get as good as a reception as she could get from Mitsuko and Hirono.

“You did pretty well, you weren’t a nervous wreck like you were for the majority of your audition and baton twirling still looks hard, so I give you a six,” Mitsuko nodded.

“That was awesome!” Haruka smiled. “I’m giving you an eight. A perfect opener for the show.”

“Eh, have a four,” Hirono shrugged. Still, Izumi smiled, calculating her points in her head. She’d gotten an eighteen! She thanked the judges and disappeared offstage, taking a seat in the crowd next to Yukie as Haruka announced the next act: Yumiko and Yukiko’s dancing.

Yumiko and Yukiko had made some changes to their act since the audition. They’d changed their song and their costumes, and they had definitely improved since their first audition. They both seemed a lot more confident in themselves, but Yukiko could still not for the life of her do the final step of the dance properly. They had practiced it and practiced it and had hoped desperately she could get it right on the night, but just like at the audition, Yumiko did it perfectly, while Yukiko landed flat on her face.

The crowd gasped, while Mitsuko and Hirono laughed quietly.

“I’m okay!” Yukiko said brightly as Yumiko helped her up, relieved she wasn’t bleeding this time. It was easier to hide her humiliation when she put a smile on her face.

“I’m giving you both a two,” Mitsuko said. “One point for Kitano falling on her face, the other for having the guts to actually show up.”

“You guys have definitely improved since your audition, and it was really cute!” Haruka gave the two a smile, relieved to see their eyes light up. “I’ll give you two a five.”

“Have a two. Obligatory face plant point, and the song you picked is less annoying than your previous pick, so that’s something,” Hirono shrugged at them. Yumiko and Yukiko disappeared offstage together holding hands, not caring about their final score of nine. They’d had fun performing together, and that mattered to them more than any prize ever would.

Shinji and Yutaka were next. Their performance went off without a hitch, the crowd enjoying Yutaka’s new and improved jokes, laughing at them and even trying to remember some of them to tell their friends later. He even told the joke that had Mitsuko laugh uncontrollably at the end, him and Shinji hoping that it would get them extra points with her. This time, she managed to control her laughter, but they could still visibly see she was amused.

“I’ll give you a nine,” Mitsuko said. “I don’t give tens. They’re too… perfect.”

“I loved your new jokes! I’ll give you a six,” Haruka smiled.

“Ugh. Have a four. That joke at the end gives me bad memories,” Hirono frowned, thinking of the audition again. Shinji and Yutaka bowed, then left the stage together, taking a seat beside Hiroki in the audience. They’d gotten a respectable nineteen points, which currently put them in the lead.

Sakura and Kazuhiko were next. They were wearing the same outfit they wore at the auditions, but Kazuhiko didn’t have a script hidden up his sleeve this time – Sakura had told him to have faith in himself, and had made sure he didn’t have one with him either. Before beginning to act out their excerpt, Sakura glared at Mitsuko, then went right into her performance.

It was obvious Sakura had tried. She had put hours into trying to get Kazuhiko to remember his lines and put more emotion into them, but it was all in vain. Kazuhiko Yamamoto could just _not act._ While she tried not to, Haruka was chuckling at his bad acting again, just as Mitsuko and Hirono were, but they managed to keep it discreet.

When it was over, there was a bit of applause from the audience. Kazuhiko’s mother gave them a loud cheer, and when he looked over at her, he saw she had a huge video camera set up. He knew that his awful performance was probably going to be played at every family event for the next two years. _Great._

“I’ll give you a three, just because I got a few laughs out of your performance,” Mitsuko said. Sakura immediately frowned at her life’s work being turned into a joke, but decided to say nothing and wait to see what the rest of the judges had to say.

“You guys have definitely improved since your audition,” Haruka said, trying to be nice. She hoped that the two hadn’t noticed her laughing during the performance. “I’ll give you a five.” She was mainly giving the five out of guilt for laughing, but they wouldn’t have to know that.

“A two. Those two went too easy on you both,” Hirono snapped.

Sakura and Kazuhiko left the stage together, taking a seat next to one another in the audience. They’d gotten ten points, which put them second last. Sakura was slightly disappointed, while Kazuhiko was just grateful they’d scraped into the double digits.

Shuya and Noriko came to the stage next, their friends cheering for them as they took their places and began to perform. Now that they had gotten in more practices, they were just about perfect, and were definitely quite confident in their act. When it was over, several people gave them a standing ovation, and Yoshitoki and Noriko’s brother let out loud cheers.

They walked to the front of the stage together, both of them blushing lightly due to the reception of their act, and waited to be given their final score.

“Seven,” Mitsuko said, giving no reasons why or even any snide comments. It surprised pretty much everyone in the room, but no one decided to comment on it.

“That was amazing! You both are really talented, and the song sounded great. I’ll give you an eight,” Haruka smiled at the two of them.

“It made me cringe. Have a two,” Hirono said flatly. The two left the stage, extremely happy with their final score of seventeen.

Yuka and Chisato went next, gaining a few laughs from the audience with their act. They were both quite nervous about how they’d do, as the script had been kind of last minute and they’d only rehearsed a few times. When it was over, they were relieved they had gotten through it, and figured they wouldn’t place that high.

“Have a five, because you took my suggestion, and watching people fail is fun,”  Mitsuko said to them, the two rather surprised she’d given them a score that high.

“I’ll give you both a seven,” Haruka smiled. She wasn’t going to say it, but she felt kind of bad for the two of them.

“Two,” Hirono said, and the two left. They were rather surprised, but happy with their final score of fourteen.

The last and final act to perform was the Kiriyama family. They drew the curtains and got ready to begin, everyone in the room who nothing about their act anxious to see what they were doing. When the curtains opened and their song erupted from the speakers, several cheers erupted from the room. The smoke machine and light shows were the spotlights, but they’d polished it up more.

Mitsuru’s spotlight came on first again, revealing him in a sparkly blue suit. Sho’s turned on as he joined in, revealing his pink suit. Hiroshi and Ryuhei were wearing purple and green respectively. Last of all, Kazuo’s spotlight came on, revealing him in the middle of the stage, in a gold suit. Sho had made all the costumes, and they looked absolutely amazing.

Within the first chorus, everyone was clapping along and cheering, save for the three judges and Kaori, who was being faithful to Flipside. It was one of the most amazing things they’d ever seen in their lives.

The choreography was even better than at the audition, the light shows were even more show stopping, and it shocked everyone. Even Mitsuko, while she would never say it out loud, had to admit that it was really impressive. Kazuo still danced the entire boyband with a completely blank face, but that was to be expected… and it added some sort of character to the act.

As they built up to the final chorus, they began to move off to the side, Kazuo moving slightly off centre. As Sho sung the first word of the chorus, their backdrop ripped and out of it, jumped the orange haired boy that had mysteriously appeared at the auditions. He was wearing a matching gold suit to Kazuo’s, and danced along with him.

The crowd didn’t even question it, they just cheered louder as their performance came to an end. When it ended, the whole hall save for Kaori and Mitsuko gave them a standing ovation.

While pretty much the whole hall was in love with the new boyband, Mitsuko was still not having it. She gave them a one. Haruka gave them a perfect ten. Hirono gave a nine, just to annoy Mitsuko. With their score of twenty, they won the talent show!

After announcing the winners, the show was over, and the Kiriyama family went backstage to celebrate with their strange guest. Without any words, he made it clear that he would have to go soon, confusing them all greatly.

“You don’t have to leave! I’ll miss you, man!” Hiroshi protested, beginning to weep. At the pathetic display, Ryuhei pushed him into a rack of costumes. The mysterious boy just shrugged and waved goodbye, but as he turned away, Sho tapped him on the shoulder, grabbing his phone.

“Let’s take a photo first,” Sho insisted they needed a memory of the moment. While quite confused, the boy shrugged and let them take a picture with him, giving them a smile. After that, he disappeared out the door, and back to his own universe. While Hiroshi ran outside to say goodbye, he couldn’t be found anywhere.

His own universe wasn’t that badly altered. He just had a gold suit now, and while the class was terrified of him, they had to admit… that was a damn nice suit.

Mr. Hayashida came up to the judges and congratulated them on a great show. They might even possibly do something similar another time. Mitsuko just shrugged and left, saying she needed a drink, while Hirono surprisingly stayed behind and helped Haruka clean up.

They had made it through the talent show… and no one had gotten hurt.

Well, almost no one.

Overall, it had actually been a pretty good event, and something no one would forget.


End file.
